|
|
|
Comment |
Sorted by
Date Written |
Just A Note To Say.......... (Reply to this comment)
by ruby950
This was an excellently written review. I love your style, Girl!
My best,
Deborah~
|
Jul 07 '03
8:01 pm PDT
|
|
Just thinking... (Reply to this comment)
by minorthreat78
In particular Rachel Miner and Bijou Phillips come across as lacking a true understanding of how horrendous this story is, and how deeply disturbing. They relate to the characters they play in a way that makes you question their own ability to behave maturely as adults.
Bear in mind, Miner got married to Macaulay Culkin at age 17, which probably isn't the most mature of ideas. And Bijou Phillips didn't exactly have the greatest role models around (look at her family), and is a recovering party girl. So maybe there's a recent they seem out of touch.
Great review, BTW.
Nikita
minorthreat78
|
Jul 07 '03
9:07 pm PDT
|
|
... (Reply to this comment)
by lemon_lime
Suemilli Nocketson,
this movie scared the hell out of me and made me right glad that i have yet to have children. once i do have children, i will worry more because of this movie.
it's unflinching, and worse, it actually happened. remind me not to watch this film ever again, though i do think it is necessary viewing for everybody. they should so this in high school classes instead of that one they always show where molly ringwald commits suicide. that one never really 'struck' me. this one wailed me in the freakin head.
love always,
chadalonius.
|
Jul 07 '03
10:55 pm PDT
|
|
Fantastic review.. (Reply to this comment)
by iangrant
Totally enjoyed it.
Ian
|
Jul 08 '03
12:43 am PDT
|
|
If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by mfunk75
Sue-
I read through your opening paragraph and decided that I'd recommend Clark's Kids to you. Then I read through your opening paragraph again, and decided that I didn't really want to push you over the edge… just yet. Therefore, I'm not recommending Kids. So, to sum up, don't watch Kids. Unless you want to be pushed over the edge.
Nick Stahl has been all over my TV this week. Judging from the lack of intellect he's shown in his T3 junket interviews, I'm doubtful that he could "show[] us two distinctly different sides to Bobby, [while avoiding] making this incongruous." He just doesn't strike me as an actor with much depth, quite frankly. But if Suemillinocket says he can act, then who am I to argue? Bully, which has gone unseen by these eyes for far too long, just got put on the rental queue.
-mike
|
Jul 08 '03
7:11 am PDT
|
|
Re: Just A Note To Say.......... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket,  in Movies
Deborah,
Thank you very much. I'm glad you liked the review!
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
8:38 am PDT
|
|
Re: Just thinking... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Nikita,
You're undoubtedly right about these girls having reasons for being vapid and immature, yet that doesn't make them less frightening. Listening to them make excuses for the characters they play is downright creepy. Thanks for stopping by to comment!
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
8:44 am PDT
|
|
Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Sir Chadrock Limerville,
This movie scared the hell out of me, too. It is, however, an excellent primer on how to be a completely out of touch parent. How many times did one of these parents completely ignore the fact that their child was aimless and creepy?
And I agree, it's much more frightening because it's true. I'm glad I saw it though, it made me realize how much I really need to be paying attention as my own kids get older. Maybe they should show it in Lamaze classes.
Millie-Sue McNocket
|
Jul 08 '03
8:56 am PDT
|
|
Re: Fantastic review.. (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Ian,
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
8:57 am PDT
|
|
Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Mike,
I read through your opening paragraph and decided that I'd recommend Clark's Kids to you.
It's already on the queue!
Then I read through your opening paragraph again, and decided that I didn't really want to push you over the edge… just yet.
I went over the edge long ago. Around the time my then 4 year old announced that she was marrying her 18 year old swim instructor ~faint~
Nick Stahl..... doesn't strike me as an actor with much depth, quite frankly.
I wonder sometimes about those interviews. I've seen some people that I know to be fine actors be bumbling, babbling idiots in interviews. It's like they're out of their element, and just tremendously uncomfortable. And if I had had to spend an extended period of time around Ahnuld, I would probably be an incoherent moron by proxy. (the interviews on this DVD, however, are just plain eerie)
But if Suemillinocket says he can act, then who am I to argue?
Well, no duh. It's well worth a rent, even if only to marvel at the hopeless immaturity of these people. And then sit there with your mouth hanging open as you realize it's all true.
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
9:11 am PDT
|
|
teenage wasteland (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
I'm surprised you haven't been Most Helpful'd yet -- this was riveting. My eyeballs were attached to the screen by literal rivets, which is what happens when teenagers are allowed to ransack hardware stores unattended by their parents or by moral conscience. Ow!
This film too will go into my queue. Meanwhile, i'm sure the book is fine, but if you _really_ want to get depressed, i'd recommend instead Bernard Lefkowitz's Our Guys: the Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of a Perfect Suburb. Not only do the teens live in an amoral wasteland of no purpose, but the adults are if anything more repulsive than their offspring. I didn't feel like talking to fellow humans for three days after reading it. Yes, it's that good!
bully for you,
- Brian
|
Jul 08 '03
7:19 pm PDT
|
|
Re: ---------------- (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Jack,
As a general rule, I'm hyper-sensitive about the constant mixing of sex and violence in film and its resulting misogyny. And I have to say that I absolutely did not get that vibe here. The sex doesn't seem done in a way meant to arouse some segment of the audience, rather it is shown for what it is; a bunch of bored kids using their sexuality as just another toy. Like the drugs. It's actually quite unappealing, as I suspect is the intention.
But as you say, we can't agree on everything. If we did I would be scared. The book does sound interesting - though I'm not entirely sure I want to re-experience the story! As for the message, I don't think all kids are like this (I have to believe this for my own mental health) but that there is a strong message here for parents to pay attention. It sounds like the book delves quite a bit further into the parents and their lunacy, but that's what I took away from the film.
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
9:47 pm PDT
|
|
Re: teenage wasteland (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Brian,
My eyeballs were attached to the screen by literal rivets
Oooh, that'll require some medical attention. And it makes for a tough daily routine.
This film too will go into my queue.
Good, I'll be interested to hear what you think.
if you _really_ want to get depressed, i'd recommend instead Bernard Lefkowitz's Our Guys: the Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of a Perfect Suburb.
I'm always looking for something to depress me, I'm just too damn happy. Coincidental factoid: I was actually born in Glen Ridge. It was perfect when I left it, what the hell happened?
Not only do the teens live in an amoral wasteland of no purpose, but the adults are if anything more repulsive than their offspring.
Aren't they, in all reality, always? As a parent, this scares the living sh!t out of me. I'd hate to have my kids grow up and only then find out that I screwed up. Aaaaaggghhh! Where's that apron?
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
9:58 pm PDT
|
|
Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Thanks, Nate.
I find its use of sex and violence (and the combination thereof) to be disgusting in the way Clark intended it to be.
I agree. It's not there to turn anybody on. As for the violence, I've seen worse in mainstream action movies, and nobody seems to bat an eye.
There is nothing exploitative about it, as far as I can see. It depicts people with unflinching realism and achieves resonance because of it.
Again, I agree. I think of exploitation as sensationalizing, while I see this as a fairly thoughtful depiction of a gruesome and frightening event. If the film were to gloss over the nastiness, it wouldn't really be telling the story.
Sue
|
Jul 08 '03
10:04 pm PDT
|
|
Sexing in Cars with Boys (Reply to this comment)
by beckytcy
Sue,
I think this is one of your best reviews to date! This film sounds fascinating and disturbing. I especially like that it doesn't moralize.
Once again, I'm at a loss for sarcasm.
Becky
|
Jul 09 '03
10:04 am PDT
|
|
Re: Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by mfunk75
Sue-
I wonder sometimes about those interviews. I've seen some people that I know to be fine actors be bumbling, babbling idiots in interviews. It's like they're out of their element, and just tremendously uncomfortable.
I have a theory about this. Since being an actor means you have to take on a series of different personae, the actor him/herself must be an empty vessel. There can't be a persona there already, impeding the progress of the character in question. This theory hold water when you watch someone like, say, Robert De Niro in interview. It is a torturous experience, listening to this man try to piece a sentence together. But when he's playing somebody else, the results are golden.
Which doesn't explain the existence of fine actors who have engaging personalities and an ability to speak extemporaneously, like, say, Michael Caine. I have no ideas to explain that one.
-mike
|
Jul 09 '03
10:13 am PDT
|
|
True Story This (Reply to this comment)
by Simply_Crispy
Based on the life and times of lemon_lime I hear.
Actually saying that, it was a pretty brutal story, definitely one of the hardest films to watch in recent times. Particularly when you see that girls minge... jeez, you'd have thought that she'd at least groom it from time to time. It looked like Chewbacca's face after a fight.
I hope these thoughts give you pause for thought upon your next viewing of the film
Chris
|
Jul 09 '03
11:14 am PDT
|
|
Re: Sexing in Cars with Boys (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Thanks Becky!
This really is worth a watch, if you don't mind the intensity of it all. I think I'm gonna need to review me a nice Lifetime movie starring Jane Seymour or something to get the sarcasm flowing around here.
Sue
|
Jul 09 '03
12:49 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: ---------------- (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Jack,
I barely recognized Stahl from In the Bedroom. He's just so mangy and repulsive so much of the time in this one and in In the Bedroom he's this golden boy. Talk about opposite characters! Oddly enough, I don't seem to bear him any resentment.
Sue
|
Jul 09 '03
12:54 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Mike,
Your theory is entirely plausible. One of the best examples I've ever seen of this theory in action was an interview with John Corbett. After enjoying Northern Exposure for a long time, I saw an interview with him. He was the most vapid, clueless dip. Yet when playing someone else, articulate and interesting.
Which doesn't explain the existence of fine actors who have engaging personalities and an ability to speak extemporaneously, like, say, Michael Caine. I have no ideas to explain that one
The exceptions that prove the rule, of course. PSH is another one.
Sue
|
Jul 09 '03
2:01 pm PDT
|
|
Re: True Story This (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Chris,
The movie is sometimes hard to watch, on many levels. I, comfortingly enough, didn't notice that particular one.
I hope these thoughts give you pause for thought upon your next viewing of the film
It actually gives me pause on all sorts of things. The least of which is the film.
Sue
|
Jul 09 '03
2:09 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Sexing in Cars with Boys (Reply to this comment)
by beckytcy
Sue,
I think I'm gonna need to review me a nice Lifetime movie starring Jane Seymour
Please do! Actually, I think Jane Seymour is really cool. Radiohead recorded part of one of their albums at her house. Although Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman was pretty gosh darn hilarious.
Becky
|
Jul 10 '03
8:34 am PDT
|
|
I did happen (Reply to this comment)
by katmar
to see this film, and didn't find it good enough to be disturbing, oddly enough. Maybe because I didn't care about what happened to any of them except Brad Renfro's character. In any case, you mentioned at the end about the actors, and I wondered if you remembered Brad Renfro as being the gorgeous young witness (child) in "The Client" with Susan Sarandon?
I fell in love with him in that, but was upset to find out that he hasn't done real well in life, as you probably already know. Drugs, arrests, drugs, arrests, etc. He seems to be a really troubled young man, and I find that more heartbreaking than anything in the film.
Anyway, you did a fine job as always, young lady.
I would ask, though, that you not tie the children up facing our house, as their fainting from the heat around four in the afternoon just gives us the willies.
Perhaps you should tie them in the Hummer with the windows down. That way they're out of sight, and we can sneak them food and stuff, and you won't go to jail for this so-called "extreme" parenting. ('Though I completely agree with it, mind you.)
Oh, and we found your swimsuit, along with your falsies - er, I mean false eyelashes, underneath my car last night. I won't even ask how they got there.
And did you know I tattled on you and Becky to Mike about wanting to steal his DVD player while he was in Canada? I thought it only right. You can check it out in the comment section of his "Vancouver" review, if you haven't done so already. :) (This is way too much fun, ain't it?!)
Marsha
|
Jul 10 '03
11:02 am PDT
|
|
* (Reply to this comment)
by jackai
In particular Rachel Miner and Bijou Phillips come across as lacking a true understanding of how horrendous this story is, and how deeply disturbing. They relate to the characters they play in a way that makes you question their own ability to behave maturely as adults. It’s a little scary
I don't know how I never heard of this movie, but after this trenchant review, I'm definitely picking it up at BlockBuster. As for the above quote, it's perhaps why the Director cast those actors in the first place. Weird, but sometimes you don't need to act to get a part - and this seemed like the perfect case for it. Indeed, scary.
Jack
|
Jul 10 '03
11:15 am PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: Sexing in Cars with Boys (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Becky,
I did find one this week, but it wasn't in the database, so I'll have to keep looking. When I find one, I'll dedicate the review to ya!
Sue
|
Jul 10 '03
8:41 pm PDT
|
|
Re: I did happen (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Marsha,
I wondered if you remembered Brad Renfro as being the gorgeous young witness (child) in "The Client" with Susan Sarandon?
I don't think I'd ever seen him before. I'd heard of him, but don't remember his acting at all. It's too bad he's going down the road of so many "child actors"
I would ask, though, that you not tie the children up facing our house, as their fainting from the heat around four in the afternoon just gives us the willies.
Not to worry, they're superglued to my person. So far they haven't managed to get in any trouble, but you can't be too careful. And I don't much like the heat, so we're enjoying the comfort of the A/C in the Hummer. That's why it's always running!
Oh, and we found your swimsuit, along with your falsies - er, I mean false eyelashes, underneath my car last night. I won't even ask how they got there.
I think that's for the best. There are children here, you know.
And did you know I tattled on you and Becky to Mike about wanting to steal his DVD player while he was in Canada?
I saw that! Turns out that Canadian stuff doesn't work here, anyway. It wouldn't play any movies unless we offered it a universal health plan.
Sue
|
Jul 10 '03
8:50 pm PDT
|
|
Re: * (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Jack,
This kept showing up on my Netflix queue as a recommended movie. Apparently they are under the impression that I really go for those sociopathic youth movies - and wouldn't you know it, it turns out they're right!
it's perhaps why the Director cast those actors in the first place
Eeewww. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but you could easily be right. In the Director interview, he kept saying how "right" those two were for the film. Yet another layer of frightening reality.
If you can get past the scary factor, though, it's a good film, I hope you like it.
Sue
|
Jul 10 '03
8:57 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by mfunk75
Sue-
The exceptions that prove the rule, of course. PSH is another one.
Yes he is. I also think Tom Hanks has a full head on his shoulders. Added bonus: he wrote That Thing You Do! (okay, so it's no Chinatown; but still, an enjoyable little flick).
-mike
|
Jul 11 '03
6:59 am PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Movies
Mike,
I haven't see That Thing You Do, but Hanks does seem relatively dip-free. It's often the pretty boys who do nothing but giggle. Tom Cruise is a bad offender, so is John Travolta (a pretty boy to some, I suppose). In sort of an inverse twist, David Duchovny does an incredibly good interview. It could either be said that he's an exception to the rule, or that his acting talent is such that you would expect him to do a good interview. Personally, I think he's an exception, but I'm a girl. heh.
Sue
|
Jul 11 '03
7:22 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: If you mess with the Bully you get the horns (Reply to this comment)
by mfunk75
Sue-
I haven't see That Thing You Do, but Hanks does seem relatively dip-free.
Even though it's relatively free of edge, let me recommend That Thing You Do! (note the proper use of exclamation point in the title), for a fluffy good time. Added bonus: Steve Zahn!
Tom Cruise is a bad offender
He straddles the line, but I don't think he ever falls over the edge.
so is John Travolta
Quite possibly the dumbest and most vapid man on the planet.
In sort of an inverse twist, David Duchovny does an incredibly good interview. It could either be said that he's an exception to the rule, or that his acting talent is such that you would expect him to do a good interview.
While I've never enjoyed Duchovny's acting (a term I use loosely), I have enjoyed his interviews. Maybe his acting career has been stalled by his overwhelming intelligence. From what I understand, he got his Master's in English Lit from Yale, before ever looking for the truth out there.
My favourite interview-subject discovery, of the last couple of months, has been Paul Rudd (Clueless). He did segments on The Daily Show and the Conan O'Brien show that had me peeing my pants from laughing so hard. Also, he's not a good actor. Which further proves my theory.
-mike
|
Jul 12 '03
7:54 am PDT
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.